How to Create an Effective Sales eLearning Program?

Sales are the backbone of an organization, “the real stuff”, because let’s face it, the whole point of an organization is to sell a product or service and profit from it. However, as any person who’s been in sales will tell you, sales aren’t an easy job. Some will even tell you that the soft skills required to make successful sales are inborn or inherent, and that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Such statements are greatly exaggerated as it has been proven that if given proper sales training, just about anyone can be an expert in sales in a short time.

Having said that, and going back to our original statement, sales aren’t an easy job. Sales executives have to be understand how their customers’ minds work. More importantly they have to know who their customers or target audience are, both existing and potential. Then, they have to create leads, and follow up on them repeatedly. And that’s just the part where we do not factor in the fact that they have to be adaptable as anything to the ever-changing market, which brings with it new models, new trends, new technologies and new competitors on a regular basis. Thus, it is safe to say that creating an effective sales eLearning program that covers all those aspects and trains employees to be proficient in all of them isn’t a cakewalk either. But don’t worry, this article discusses exactly the problems one would face when creating an eLearning program for sales training, and how to create an effective sales eLearning program despite them.

0. Before we even start (which is why this point is labelled as ‘0’), it is understood that sales executives spend most of their time “out there” on the field, trying to get leads and close them. It is obvious then that they can’t be expected to complete their eLearning courses in the office. It is for this reason that the eLearning program being developed be accessible from their smartphones, thus giving them the freedom to complete sales eLearning courses anytime, anywhere.

Set Clear Goals – Every journey must have a starting point and an end point, or goal. In the case of sales, the goal is usually to increase them. But “increase sales” is not a clear goal. It doesn’t say “by how much?”, neither does it specify “by what time?”. Whereas “increase sales by 10% within 1 year” is a clear goal. Setting clear goals helps in identifying whether the training program is working as planned or not.

Identify The Skills Sales Professionals Need – What makes a successful sales professional? There are no doubt countless ways this question can be answered, but when talking about specific skills, skills such as good communication patience, being customer-centric, being people-oriented, being energetic, having a go-getter attitude, valuing time (your own and that of your customer or client), commitment, reliability, flexibility and being “street-smart” are the ones that are absolutely essential for sales professionals to have. The eLearning program needs to have dedicated modules to train employees in these skills, in addition to any other skills the organization might identify as crucial for sales professionals.

Use Prevalent eLearning Elements in Your Program – Make sure that your eLearning program not only contains traditional eLearning elements such as images, videos and interactivities but modern eLearning elements such as gamification, micro-learning and scenario-based video training to engage the learners of today. Unless and until you have an innovative and engaging eLearning program that utilizes these elements, it won’t be able to contribute to effective learning and boost measurable sales growth.

Assess The Success of eLearning Using eLearning Itself – Don’t forget to place frequent assessments in your eLearning programs on regular intervals, and reward the employee completing the assessments with a badge or achievement. This is a gamification technique that works wonders for employee motivation. Assessments also help determine whether the employees are learning. The real test, of course, is out there on the field.

eLearning is an exceptional tool for sales training, particularly because of its versatility. It helps you measure performance, enhance customer communications and improve employee skills. Integrate eLearning into your corporate training program and enjoy its various benefits.

If you’re looking for a professional eSolutions provider to help you create amazing eLearning courses, your search ends at CBLPro. We offer our services of creating state-of-the-art custom eLearning courses tailored to your organization’s needs. Contact us at www.cblpro.com.

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